Background: Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee (Google Maps). Inset: Kayla Antonette Wells (Shelby County Sheriff's Office).
A woman in Tennessee is behind bars after authorities say she failed to bring her baby boy to the hospital for several checkup appointments when he had multiple injuries.
Kayla Antonette Wells, 24, is charged with child neglect, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. She was booked into the Shelby County Jail on Tuesday.
On April 23, the Memphis Police Department responded to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital on Adams Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. Officers were told about a "possible child abuse complaint," per an affidavit of complaint.
The hospital's social worker reported that a 6-month-old boy was brought to the hospital by his mother — identified as Wells — "for congestion and a possible arm injury." Hospital workers treated and tested the boy and determined that he "had multiple unexplained fractures that were suspected to be caused by non-accidental trauma."
Further testing revealed that the boy "had a bone disorder" that "may have caused multiple fractures." Police say that although Wells was told about the diagnosis and the care plan that was "needed to properly treat the condition and prevent further bone injuries," she failed to bring her son for several follow-up appointments.
Those appointments for which Wells and her son were a "no show" allegedly spanned more than two months — from May 6 to July 13.
Wells was arrested and booked into jail on a $10,000 bond. Police made no mention of the child's current status or whose care he is under while his mother's case proceeds.
The defendant had a video arraignment on Wednesday and is scheduled to have a bail review hearing on Thursday.